Dimension Perception
by pretend to be a mortician
Summary: "That's BULL-CRAP. My whole life did not just disappear. You expect us to believe that? Why would dimensions just disappear like that? How did you get us here in the first place? How is a dimension disappearing equivalent exchange-"
1. Hold It In

Chapter 1: Hold It In

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The young man lay in the hospital bed. He knew that he was dying. He weakly reached for a nurse at his bedside. He told her his last words:

"Tell my brother, that I love him."

* * *

"WHAT THE FUCK!" A voice yelled from the hallway.

Colonel Roy Mustang rubbed his temples and prepared himself for a barrage of insults. The door was kicked open violently and an extremely irritated Edward Elric followed.

"I don't see why you didn't expect this earlier, Fullmetal," the Colonel said pressing his fingertips together.

"What do you mean? Expect you to be a totally heartless bastard?" Ed snarled, his eyes bristling.

"You're one to talk. You aren't exactly the sentimental type, so don't talk to me about heartlessness."

"I don't tear families apart!" Ed said indignantly, his arms springing out to his sides.

"It's only a week. That's hardly tearing your family apart." The Colonel said with an unsympathetic look.

"Says you. You are just jealous that I've completed my goals and you are still some stuffed up colonel with a superiority complex." Ed responded with a smug look.

"Well, I am your superior. You do remember that this is an order, don't you?"

"Fuck orders. You know that I'm quitting the military after this year, don't you?"

"That doesn't change the fact that you have to follow orders now. I don't want any more complaints. Quit being a little kid."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A HALF-PINT WHINY LITTLE MIDGET!?!?" Ed yelled, pounding his hands on the top of Colonel Mustang's desk.

"I don't want to continue arguing about this. And yes, you are acting like a child." He said with a small smirk of satisfaction.

"I don't want to hear that from you, Colonel Shit. Even if you are an old man doesn't mean you know everything. Stop looking down on me."

"That's a little difficult to do considering how short you are."

"WHO THE HELL IS TOO SHORT TO SEE OVER YOUR DESK!?!?"

"Well I would normally say that you would be tall enough to see over my desk, but with all this paperwork…" The Colonel looked around his desk with mock dismay.

"I can take care of that. Want me to call Hawkeye to help you?"

"That won't be necessary." Mustang told him as a hasty reply. "If certain subordinates would just do as they were told instead of blowing things up, all this paperwork wouldn't occur in the first place."

"Don't blame me for your laziness, old man."

"It's called having more important things to do than paperwork."

"Like setting up dates? I'm glad you know how to schedule them without them bumping into each other. That would be awkward for you, wouldn't it?"

"At least I have a social life."

"I have a social life!"

"Spending time with your brother does not count."

"It totally does! Why the hell wouldn't it? He's a person, isn't he?"

"That's right. He is a person. That means he can take care of himself and you can go on a mission for a week, doesn't it?" Mustang said with a small smirk of triumph.

"He's only had his body for a month! You can't expect me to NOT look after him, do you?"

"Winry is perfectly capable of taking care of him."

"Whatever. Where the hell are you sending me this time?" Ed muttered the last part, finally giving in.

"Chokton. The briefing should be in this folder." Mustang nudged one of the manila folders on his desk.

"Humph," was all the reply that was given as Ed shuffled through the papers. "Whatever." Ed began to walk towards the door.

"I want a report when you come back, Fullmetal."

"And I want a pony. You do realize that they both have the same chance of becoming reality, don't you?" And with that, Ed stepped outside.

Mustang watched Ed go with a sigh, not knowing that he would be the last one to talk to the Fullmetal Alchemist.

* * *

"We're losing one, sir."

"Report!"

"It's in a Mod Alche-dimension, sir."

"Damnit! Get me what you can on this one; I think we're going to lose it."

"Yes, sir."

"I've got a hook on some surveillance-info. Apparently the strongest dwell in a military state, most employed by it."

"Ok, get me some scanners."

"Sir, we've got one on the chart."

"Ok. Dimension status?"

"Quickly deteriorating, sir. Less than 20% perception."

"Ok, we need to lock-on to the one you've found, hurry."

"Got it, sir."

"Ok we'll need to transfer, now."

"Dimension has 10% perception."

"Starting transfer."

"5% Perception."

"Transfer complete."

"Dimension has vanished."

* * *

Ed had found himself in some interesting situations. Passing out and coming to in a completely white room was new. Well, passing out was a loose term, because he didn't really know what had happened. One moment he was leaving Mustang's office and then everything had seemed to freeze. Everything had started to slip away and then he remembered being in this strange room.

The fact that it was completely white wasn't what made it interesting. The fact that it had no entrances to speak of was. Ed would admit that with alchemy it would be possible to completely seal someone in a room, but he couldn't see the point of sealing an alchemist in a room that was alchemically sealed.

He saw the point, when he looked at the walls and couldn't discern what exactly they were made of. He decided that he could just try pulling out any random elements one at a time and see if he was removing part of the wall. He was about to attempt this when cracks appeared in a wall in a door-like shape, and it opened.

Several men in white coats approached him while a woman in extremely strange clothing followed them. She was wearing a dark blue long sleeve shirt with a bright green smock over it; while on her legs were a pair of strangely proportioned pants.

Ed took a defensive stance and gave a warning glare to the two approaching men. He was sure that they would try and grab him, but they simple stood about 6 feet away and looked to the woman who seemed to be talking to herself, quietly.

"What the hell is going on?!" Ed asked the woman (She seemed to be in charge).

"Hello. Welcome to the Inter-Dimensionary Control Facility. My name is Hanried Ferriunman." She said with a smile.

"Welcome to the what?!? Where the hell is this?" Ed demanded. He looked her up and down and decided that her only defining feature was her bright red hair that was bordering on orange.

"We regret to inform you that your home is no longer accessible, and that you were spared to live here on planet Tan." She said with a small look of pity.

"What? My home? What do you mean?" Ed said in continued distress.

"All will be explained in due time. For now, we will need some personal information from you."

"The hell with that! I'm not telling you shit."

"I'm sorry about this, but it's necessary." She said with another almost-sorry look.

One of the men walked up to Ed and before he could clap pressed a small device to his neck. Ed's eyes fluttered closed as the other man stepped forward to catch his falling form. The man grunted under his weight as the other man helped him drag Ed out of the room and onto a gurney they had waiting in an all white hallway.

"Traveler number 58 was hostile and seems to be quite young in age." The woman murmured into her headset.

"**It's alright; we got a good enough reading from that one. He should prove to be useful."** Said the voice from the woman's ear.

"I hope you are right, Dimitri."

* * *

The next time that Ed woke up, he knew that he had definitely lost consciousness this time. Those damn bastards in white coats! He looked up to see where he was and all he saw was more white. He sat up and realized he was in another cell, of sorts. The difference was that he was not alone. There were several other people in the room, all looking as confused as he felt.

One was a man, about 40 who kept pacing back and forth, muttering. He had light brown hair that was molded into all sorts of shapes. Whether this was on purpose or not, Ed had no clue. He was wearing some fairly nondescript brown and grey clothes with black shoes.

There was another man in the room. He had no hair whatsoever, not even eyebrows. He was wearing a motley of colors and so many odd layers that it was impossible to figure out what his body was like underneath his clothes. He was simply sitting, leaning against one of the walls and running his hands over his bald scalp.

The last and perhaps most interesting person in the room was an old woman. She was sitting in the center of the room cross-legged with her eyes closed. She had her face pointed upwards and her grey locks twisted down her back. She was wearing a black shroud and looked entirely at peace.

Ed got up and said, "Hey, what's going on? Who are you guys? Do you know where we are?"

The man who was pacing stopped and stared at him for a minute and then continued his previous pattern. The man against the wall showed no reaction whatsoever. The woman in the middle of the room seemed to also show no reaction until he heard her speak.

"None of us know anything, little boy." She said to him, without opening her eyes.

"Who the hell are you calling little!" Ed said between his teeth and held up a fist.

"I don't need this from you, youngling." She said with a sigh.

At this point in time the wall opened just like before and the same woman appeared. "I know you all have a lot of questions, but if you all will just cooperate we can sort things out fairly quickly, don't you think?" she said brightly.

Ed just grunted and watched the other inhabitants of the room slowly become more alert. The two people sitting stood up, and the man who was pacing frantically stopped and looked at the woman almost fearfully.

"W...What's going…..on?" he said anxiously.

"It'll all be explained soon. If you all will just follow me." She said and with that she gestured towards the entrance.

For a second, it seemed like no one would move, but the old woman stepped forward and went through the opening. Ed wasn't afraid and for now he decided he would cooperate. He wanted to find out what the hell was going on and he didn't think they were going to harm him for some reason.

This thought puzzled him. Why would they go to the trouble of kidnapping him, if it wasn't for unfriendly reasons? Unless these weren't the people who took him? Or they needed his help or something? Ed wasn't sure how much he could trust these people considering he had no idea what their motives were but believe it or not he didn't attack anyone for no reason. Not to mention he had no idea where he was.

He stepped out of the white room into a brightly lit white hallway. The other two men had followed him and in the hallway there were several men in white coats waiting to escort them. They continued down the hallway and around a few corners. They didn't encounter anyone else until they reached a set of double doors. The doors opened to reveal a strange room with a few rows of seating. In front of them was a large screen and Ed guessed it was some sort of theater.

They encouraged Ed and the others to sit down. Ed's assumption was proven correct when the screen began to light up. On the screen appeared a friendly looking man in a strange brown suit. He was sitting in a white room and began speaking:

"Hello, my name is Gregoris. I am sure that you are confused, but let me assure you that you are quite safe here and that we mean you no harm. We regret to inform you that your home dimension no longer exists. We are so sorry for your loss. We would like to welcome you to planet Tan. We have spared you so that you may live here on our peaceful planet. This dimension has far surpassed many others in the fields of inter-dimensional travel. As a result we have dedicated resources to the Inter-Dimensionary Control Program. This program is devoted to saving as many dimensions as we can from non-existence and preserving the cultures and talents of other dimensions. You have been selected as a special representative of your home to stay here on this world and help contribute to the universe's beacon of society. You will all be welcomed into society and we hope that you collaborate with us to make the universe a better place for all."

The screen flickered off and the lights flickered on. The man who had been pacing sat there looking on the verge of tears. The hairless man was looking at his palms stunned as if he had just watched his whole world slip through his own fingers. The old woman was sitting there with a resigned look on her face, but Ed could see the tightness in her face around her eyes and in the corners of her mouth. Ed stood up and addressed the red-haired woman:

"That's fucking BULL-CRAP. My whole life did not just disappear. You expect us to believe that? Why the fuck would dimensions just disappear like that? How does this happen? How did you get us here in the first place? Every reaction has an equal cause. How the fuck is a dimension disappearing equivalent exchange-"

"I know that you have many questions, but for now you need to get settled in your new home. To do this we will need to ask you some questions and run some tests. Then you will be settled into a temporary living unit with a host. Please cooperate. We will not hesitate to keep you in solitary confinement if you prove to be a threat." She looked pointedly at Ed during the last part of her little speech.

Ed just glared but decided on the inside that he would cooperate. It wasn't something he would normally do, but on the inside he was frightened. But only a little, really….

Who the hell was he kidding? He was scared shitless, but there was no way in hell they were going to know that. For now he had to keep it together before thinking about the true meaning of her words. His whole world? His life? Al? Winry? Gone?... 'No no no…stop thinking about it!' Ed thought to himself. He needed to keep calm. He followed the woman and her cronies out of the room into the hallway again. He decidedly ignored the other dimensionally-relocated people walking behind him. He had his own problems to deal with, he wasn't about to feel sorry for anyone else.

* * *

A man with golden blonde hair leaned back in a chair. His golden eyes fixed themselves onto the screen before him. A slow smile found its way onto his face.

* * *

**Hey, this is my second story. I have some big ideas planned for this one! **

**Can you guess who the "man with golden hair" is??**

**Better yet, the man who died at the beginning??**

**I don't know if those are that hard to figure out, but I promise that things will get even more interesting.**

**Please review.**


	2. Interrogation

**Chapter 2: Interrogation**

**Forgot about the disclaimer last chapter, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or its characters. Just my original ideas.**

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* * *

  
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"There is NO WAY you are getting that frickin' pig sticker in me!" Ed jumped off of the bed in the sterile hospital-like room as a flustered woman tried to draw some blood from the elusive young alchemist. He kept dodging any attempts she made, and it resulted in a chase around the small room. Eventually the woman gave up and touched the side of her head while mumbling something. Ed had no idea why, but the people on this planet did some pretty strange things. Soon a few men came in the room who, Ed assumed, were supposed to keep him still while the "nice nurse" could just "run a few tests". He figured that these translated to "demonic witch-doctor lady" and "fucking kill you with a huge-ass needle" but they decided to use the shorter and nicer version of saying it.

Before the two men could grab him, Ed ran over to the wall, clapped his hands and shoved them up against the wall. He guessed on the elements of the wall and unfortunately was wrong. The two men managed to grab Ed's small frame as a look of dismay crossed his features. What could they be using to make the walls? He knew he would eventually figure it out, but now would've been a good time to find out.

Eventually the two burly men hauled the reluctant Edward Elric over to where the nurse was sporting a "friendly-looking smile" that Ed was sure was an "iniquitous grin". She stuck the needle in his arm, withdrawing some blood while repeating soothing phrases such as, "This is the last test, no need to worry," and "It'll be over in just a minute."

After what seemed like forever, Ed was released by the men while the woman packed up a healthy dose of Edward's blood. "fucking demon-lady," Ed muttered underneath his breath.

He was escorted by the two men out the door and into a strange looking-waiting room. There were a few other sad souls sitting inside but Ed decided to ignore them. None of them looked interesting enough for a conversation and Ed had decided that he needed a moment to gather his thoughts. He sat down in a chair that had no back and leaned forward with his face in his palms.

He decided to sort out what he knew of this crazy place first. Apparently they came from an advanced dimension. Apparently they could transport people between dimensions. Apparently they thought it was their duty to "save" other dimensions, or whatever they could take from them. Apparently they thought Ed could be a "contribution" to their "society".

What the hell was that all about anyway? Why the hell should they care about other dimensions that much? If he had that kind of technology back home he certainly wouldn't have bothered to try and help other dimensions with it like it was some sort of obligation or something. Did they get any sort of gain out of this? It was just out of the "goodness" of their hearts? This whole place was weird, that Ed was sure about.

Back home….No Ed wasn't going to think about that. They were obviously lying. The only thing that Ed could think of that would have enough power over the way things worked would be the Gate and Ed was pretty sure that the Gate wouldn't demolish an entire dimension for no reason…. unless…. maybe the Gate believed his dimension wasn't worth existing. No that couldn't be true. Al was proof enough of that. He had enough goodness in him to wash away plenty of bad things. Even Winry…. surely the Gate didn't think that they didn't deserve to live or something?

That thought was stupid. The Gate didn't think about things like that. It carried out equivalent exchange. The Gate didn't pass out any other kinds of judgment. Al had lived years of his life in a suit of armor. That certainly wasn't fair. There was no worthy and unworthy in the eyes of the Gate. There were only things that were given and the price that was taken for them.

Humankind cannot gain anything, without first giving something in return.

* * *

Ed was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't notice a man in (again) a strange outfit approach him and say his name.

"…ric…Edward Elric."

"Huh?" Ed said intelligently, looking up into the firm watery blue gaze of the man standing above him. The man motioned for him to get up and follow and Ed obliged.

He followed the man into another completely white room and Ed found himself wondering why there was never any windows in any of the rooms. They were always white, and clean. It reminded him of a hospital, but it was even worse than that. Usually hospitals actually tried to lighten things up, and if they weren't painted with soft but bright colors nor had some calming images of things like beaches and grassy meadows adorning the walls, at least they had windows. This place was all utility and absolutely no comfort.

Ed was surprised that he hadn't felt like he was in an asylum yet. He sure felt like he was going crazy already. But that was the first and only thing he knew about insanity; if you could identify with the fact that you might be crazy, you usually weren't. The crazies all thought they were completely sane. Ed felt like the idea that he wasn't actually crazy should be comforting, but at this point it really wasn't. He wished he was crazy, or dreaming.

The man gestured to a lonely table in a desolate room. There were two chairs on either side of it. The man sat at one and expected Ed to follow suit. Ed was happy to see that these chairs at least had backs. It meant that he could be comfortable while he pulled information out of his ass to tell these shmucks all about his wonderful little life and find out what was going to happen to him in this crazy little reality.

"So…. Edward. I have read the information that was collected from your dimension before it ceased to exist." The man said this while he pulled out some sort of stylus and began to tap on the table. Ed liked the way that they were so comforting. Remind him right away that his entire home had apparently disappeared into thin air. Thanks interrogation guy, really.

Ed at first ignored the tapping on the table until he glanced over and saw that the man was managing to conjure images onto the table. What the hell? He seemed to be controlling it with the pen-like implement he was holding, but he wasn't writing anything. Ed didn't have much more time to contemplate it before the man had apparently reached the point in his tapping where he decided to introduce himself.

"Well then, I am Berfund Jankakis. I work for the Inter-Dimensional Control Program or the IDCP."

"Well that's kind of obvious, this is your guys' facility isn't it?" Ed said with a bored look. How stupid did these people think he was?

"I'm sorry I was just trying to make you feel more comfortable. Now I'd like to ask you a few questions pertaining to your life in your previous dimension. It will help us find a place for you in this society where you may feel comfortable. Is that alright?"

Ed didn't like the idea of all this "place in society" crap. But he didn't really feel like he should say no. If he became hostile then they probably wouldn't let him leave the facility. He figured that once they "settled him in" he could do whatever the fuck he wanted anyway. It wasn't like he was planning on staying for a while or anything. It didn't hurt to give them a little info and he could always make stuff up if he felt like it. It's not like they knew anything about him anyway. They had figured out about his automail, though. From the way they examined it, they didn't seem surprised that the technology existed nor did they question how it happened. That was just as well considering he had no plans of telling them exactly how it happened at all.

"Yeah, sure." Ed replied civilly. Well as civilly as someone with Ed's temperament could manage.

"Okay, first of all, how old are you?"

"Sixteen." The answer seemed to surprise Berfund Junkakis. Seriously, what was up with the freaky names? Ed was about to ask if the look of surprise was because of reasons that shall remain unmentioned, but the man continued on.

"So it was recorded that your dimension was in a twentieth century time-period, is that correct?"

"Yeah."

"It was also noted that your home country, Amestris, was run by a military dictatorship. It was also noted that you were employed by the State. Is this also correct?"

"Yeah."

"Would you like to elaborate on the job that you performed for the State military?"

"Not really, but sure. I was a State Alchemist. An Alchemist employed by the state gets access to all sorts of government resources and a rank of Major in the military but also has to follow the government's orders. Affectionately named the 'Military's Dogs'." Ed said the last part with a little bit of sarcasm.

"So you worked for the state in the military, a Major no less. Is it usual for someone so young to be a State Alchemist?"

* * *

Ed was led out of the room where he had been questioned for the better part of an hour and back into the bleak-looking sitting room. It really had nothing going for it. It was impeccably clean, like all the other rooms, but Ed couldn't help but sense a sort of run-down feeling. The room felt tired and overused which made it seem even shabbier and less cheerful overall. It certainly didn't elevate Ed's mood when he entered it for the second time.

Berfund Junkakis had informed him that someone would be there shortly with his temporary host. The man had continued after the questions about his position in the military with ones about his alchemic skill and the technological advances in his dimension. He had briefly mentioned the automail and the fact that he was also aware from the report that Ed had an automail arm and leg, but he didn't press too much further. In fact, it made Ed even more nervous. He didn't ask very much about him personally. He didn't even know that he had a brother, or the fact that he had no parents (no way that bastard counted as a responsible guardian).

He mostly asked about how alchemy was performed in his world and how far advanced it was. He assumed that Ed was as proficient as his knowledge, and the man had seemed quite informed about alchemy. He didn't ask for an example of Ed's talents, so he didn't even know that he needed no circle. If these guys wanted to know anything, they really didn't know how to gauge alchemic skill very well. He asked a bit about how far advanced the weapons were and other tools that were used. He seemed especially interested in the role that alchemists played in the military. As human weapons.

There was a lot that Ed needed to learn about this place.

* * *

**I have finals this week and then Hell Week for a play that I am in, so I might not update a lot in the next week or two, but I like this story a lot, so please review and encourage me to write more soon.**


	3. Used to Know

**Chapter 3: Used to Know**

**Me no own.**

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* * *

  
**

"Hmmmm…" An older man pondered a screen in front of him. He leaned back in his chair and brought his fingers up to his lips. He squinted as if trying to decipher some other meaning from the words on the screen. It only took a few more moments for him to find what he was looking for. He brought his hand up to his ear until he heard a voice.

"Sir?"

"Get me my son."

* * *

Ed had thought that he would like to be outside, but now that he was, he didn't see much of a difference. He could see a grey sky above, but pretty much everywhere else was building after building. They had told him that he was in a city, but it wasn't anything like any cities he had been to. Not to mention it was huge. The buildings were impossibly tall and Ed almost wondered about the infrastructure, but then decided that he didn't give a shit. He staggered along, somewhat disappointed and mostly depressed. He had thought the hospital-like setting was just a reflection of the dry people who happened to be there and the irritating business they used their time to fuel, but apparently the whole world was just as dull.

They passed people on the streets, but most people ignored the small group. They wore a motley of different styles but all seemed to be somewhat 'done-up'. He could see women with outrageous makeup that they pretended to pull off with finesse, but really resembled what happened when an 8-year-old met eye- shadow for the first time. Their clothing was a range of styles and colors. Some looked somewhat passable, but others made Ed wonder how exactly you put them on.

Ed was being escorted by a few members of the Inter- Dumbass Crap Program along with a couple other dimensional newbies. Apparently they were being integrated into some sort of"settlement" for "people like them". There would be people from this dimension there too, but they thought that maybe being around other completely confused, freaked out, miserable weirdoes from other dimensions could make them feel better and that they would form the bonds of brotherhood and all hold hands in a circle and crap. Yeah right.

Ed had begun to zone out the passing faces and grey buildings. They had been told that it wasn't too far, but he was already tired. Apparently it was a side effect from changing dimensions. Great.

When he finally began to pay attention to the things around him, he realized that the quieter, business-like streets with buildings, doors, and busy looking people had disappeared and in its place was the beginnings of an actually community. There were strange looking establishments carved into the stony faces of the grey buildings and more people on the sidewalk. He could see that some of the buildings were obviously apartment buildings.

If it was possible, the people around him began to look stranger. Not all of them were adults now, and he even saw a few small children. The children ended up being the best dressed he had seen, considering the attire of the adults was now "casual". If that was what they considered casual, Ed didn't want to know what they just happened to pull out of their drawers on a lazy day.

Their clothes seemed to spout extra fabric in many directions. Some protrusions were floppy, like extra flaps, while others were supported by either impossible bone structure or padding. People began to take on all sorts of shapes and styles. Some seemed to emulate animals, what animals; Ed thought that maybe the people themselves didn't know. Some people wore what could possibly pass as normal, but it seemed to be extremely ill-fitting and sagged off of every corner of their bodies in strange colors.

The IDCP people led them to the front stoop of a building and ushered them all inside. It was at this point in time that Ed decided to actually pay attention to who he was with. Besides the 3 IDCP pricks, there were 2 dimensionless unfortunates like himself.

One was a stony-faced girl. She seemed like she was trying to be strong but was also scared shitless. She looked to be about the same age as Ed, maybe a little older. She was also quite pretty. She had light chocolate-brown hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a green baggy sweater and a brown knee-length flowing skirt. She was actually dressed the most normal Ed had seen since he had arrived here. She had her hands clenched together in front of her and looked to the IDCP "handlers" expectantly.

The other was an awkwardly tall red haired boy. He looked to be about Ed's age too, but one couldn't be sure because of his naturally boyish features and tall height. He was wearing an odd all-grey baggy outfit. He didn't seem too scared, just curious. He looked around the room they had been led into inquiringly and Ed decided to follow suit.

At first Ed was reminded of the waiting room at the IDCP, but this place had a much warmer feel. For one thing, there were actual homey-touches, like color. When color on the walls in a room counted as "homey-touches" Ed knew that this place made him think strange things. It looked like a mix between a bland living room and a hotel lobby.

One of the IDCP members walked up to a counter and began conversing with the only other person in the room, a woman behind the desk. Ed looked around idly and felt like sitting on one of the stuffy white couches. Before he could weigh the pros and cons of actually getting comfortable in such a strange place, the man speaking to the woman at the counter turned to them and began to speak. Ed decided it was time to tune in.

"This is a tyrodorm. It is a place where those of learning-age live in rooms together. Ages in this particular dorm range from 15-20. As you all fit into this age range, you can see why you would be placed here. You will all be assigned a guide to help you get used to life here, for now. You will report to your dorm-magister who will be responsible for your well being. You will also have weekly meetings with someone from the IDCP who will check on your progress and you will be incorporated into our post-disarticulation program. We hope-"

Blah, blah, blah. At this point in the little speech, Ed decided to tune out.

It wasn't long before three interesting looking people arrived from…. well Ed wasn't really sure. He assumed they arrived from somewhere in the building but he wasn't really paying attention. They approached the small group in the living room/ lobby.

"Hi I'm Penter! I'm 18 and a student at Kiyo. I believe I'm the host of …. Dexter Gerard?" said one of the boys approaching them. He had blue and white hair and was wearing a red amorphous sweater-shirt thing and white girly Capri- like pants. He held his hand out for the tall red-haired boy to grab. The two of them walked off.

Next a girl stepped forward. She had brown hair with pink around the bottoms. She was wearing a big yellow blob that looked like it was supposed to be comfortable and fashionable at the same time. Fail.

"I'm Ceci, I'm 20 and also a student at Kiyo. I'm hosting Sarah Miller." The girl named Sarah stepped forward and looked at Ceci with a hopeful expression. Like she was searching for a friend. She really seemed to be relieved to meet someone her age. Like they were all in some club together or something.

Ed looked at the last person to approach them. It was a boy wearing all neon green. He also had neon green hair and the entire effect was quite jarring to say the least. "Hey, I'm Hecton. I'm 16 and I'm a student at Berg. I am your host I guess," he said looking at Ed. "You are Edward Elric, right?"

"Call me Ed."

Ed began to follow the other boy to wherever the others had gone. They went to a corner where another invisible door appeared and they stepped into a very small room. Ed assumed it was an elevator of some sort. The door closed behind them and Ed looked at Hecton.

Hecton just stood there and said, "2306-B."

Ed expected to feel the normal motions of an elevator, but felt nothing. Before he could ask Hecton if he was sure the elevator was working, the room dinged. The door opened and they both stepped out. They were in a hallway of sorts. It was white and there were two doors on each side of the small hallway and one on the end.

Hecton walked up to the second door on the left and it opened. Hecton expressed a welcoming gesture to Ed and Ed walked inside. Directly inside was a living area. The color theme seemed to be any and all shades of green. There were only two other doors which Ed assumed would lead to bedrooms. Hecton looked at Ed as if looking for approval.

"Uh… nice." Ed supplied as a comment.

"Thanks, man!" Hecton said excitedly. He then walked over to one of the other doors and it opened for him. Ed really needed to learn that trick. "This is your room. My other roommate moved up to the Kiyo level," he said by way of explanation.

Ed looked at his new abode. It consisted of a fairly plain bedroom. The walls were grey as were the bed sheets. There was a small bedside table and a weirdly shaped desk and chair. There didn't seem to be a closet, until Hecton walked over to one wall where he did this strange motion with his hand and a rack pulled itself out of the wall. He did the motion again and the closet closed. He was taking his hand, fingers spread and then pulling it back towards him, all the while facing his palm towards the wall where the closet appeared from. He did the opposite when closing it.

"This is the closet."

"So it senses your motions, then? Like the Doppler Effect?" Ed asked. He had heard of some scientific mumbo jumbo and the Doppler Effect when someone was talking about sound waves. He wasn't really paying attention but it seemed that by moving his hand forward and backwards, maybe it sensed it the same way you could sense sound waves moving closer and farther away. It was a decent guess, and Ed was sick of feeling clueless in this new place. People did all sorts of things here so casually that made Ed uncomfortable because he didn't understand why they did these things.

Forget the crazy clothes and obsession with white and cleanliness, people here seemed to control the world around them so easily. It wasn't natural. Ed had seen several more people draw up the weird screens with pen- like objects. He didn't understand how it could work and Ed always knew how things worked. He freaking controlled matter itself with alchemy.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm no tech- genius or anything. I forgot that you aren't used to some of the stuff we got here…." he trailed off uncertainly. He walked back into the living room and they both sat down when there was a ringing noise. "Come in!" Hecton called in the direction of the door.

"DUDE. YOU GOT AN ALCHE- GEEK AND DIDN'T TELL US?!?" This was uttered by a fairly tall fire-engine red haired boy. He was followed by about 5 other boys.

"Hey, are you even qualified to be a host?" asked a dark- blue haired boy.

"Hey, can he perform for us? Have you asked him to do it yet? I wanna see!!" Said a rather short brown haired one with green eyes…. Now that Ed looked, it seemed that there were two of them. Twins?

"Oi, give the guy some room, you don't wanna overwhelm him." This was said by another tall boy with black hair and glasses.

"I kinda wanna see it too, though." Said a brunette boy with blue eyes.

"Whatever, I bet he's a total barb." Said the other twin.

"That's mean, Klev!" Said the first twin.

"Guys, calm down. Tuckson's right, you don't wanna freak him out." This was said by Hecton. He turned to the red-haired boy and said, "I didn't know until just recently I had a diff-dimensh. I bet they just gave me him because I had a free room."

"Yeah well, you're last roommate was like a freakin' zip kid." This was said by the blue haired boy.

They all turned to Ed at this point. During the entire spiel exchange, most of them had been looking at him. Some nervously, and some warily but all of them looked curious.

Hecton turned to his friends and gestured to Ed, "This is Ed." Then he gestured to each boy in turn. "This is Barpoc, Tien, Jiarnen, Tuckson, Klev, and Rooter." Barpoc was the red haired one that had spoken first; Tien was the blue-haired one, Jiarnen was the fifth one to talk and he had brown hair and bright blue eyes. Tuckson was the other tall one in the room and he had black hair and glasses. Klev and Rooter seemed to be identical, with matching light brown hair and green eyes.

"So you can do it, right?" Said Rooter. Ed had no idea what he was talking about.

"Do what?" Ed asked.

"AW MAN. He can't? What a letdown." This was said by Barpoc.

"Can't do what?" Ed repeated, feeling like an idiot. Was he missing something here?

"Alchemy." Hecton told him.

"I've never seen it before! I really wanted to too. I heard they need to draw stuff. I wonder if that's true…." Wondered Rooter aloud.

"They use blood. Lots of it. And living animals as sacrifices. And sometimes people too." Klev decided to share.

"Ewwwwww…. Grosssss. I can't believe it. That's so barbaric. I never want to see anyone do alchemy, it sounds disturbing. Do they really kill people to do it? That's awful, they are like murderers." Rooter scrunched his nose as if he could smell the blood of the many sacrifices.

"Not _like _murderers. They _would_ be murderers if they killed people as sacrifices." Jiarnen decided to add fuel to Klev's fire.

"I doubt that, considering its legal for people to practice, Rooter." Tuckson added as a voice of reason.

"I've heard people who've seen it. They said it was pretty cool. They have to draw circles or some such, I think. A lot of my older friends have seen it." Said Tien, the blue haired boy.

"Someone thinks they are all cool just because they hang out on D-level." Barpoc heralded in an almost singing tone.

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Woah, you have friends on the D-level?" Rooter asked in amazement.

"Eh, I know a few guys, because of my brother." Tien responded.

"Come on guys, now's not the time." Hecton decided to break up whatever was left of the tension between Tien and Barpoc in the wake of Rooter's question.

"I can do alchemy, by the way." Ed said, not quietly but not too loudly. He had deduced that perhaps, although the IDCP seemed pretty informed about alchemy, that it wasn't as widely practiced here.

"COOL. SHOW US." This was said by Barpoc and echoed by Jiarnen and Rooter, though the others also looked extremely curious.

"Ok, um…. I'll need something to write with and something to transmute." Ed said. He supposed he could show them a little something. But he also decided that since no one so far in this world knew he could do alchemy without circles, he would keep it that way.

There was some scrambling around and a strange pen-thingy and a cup was thrust at him.

"Uh…. How do I use this?" Ed asked holding up the stylus.

"Oh, just tap on the table where you would like the edges of your page to be, and start drawing." Hecton supplied as instructions.

Well that seemed simple enough. Ed looked at the stylus and the table, and then tapped a decent size square. A weird screen appeared and Ed just looked at it for a second. He broke out of his trance though to look at the cup and discern what it was made of. He had a pretty good idea. It was easier to figure than the walls and he tried to decide what he would transmute it into. A wry grin crossed Ed's face as he thought of what he would transmute.

Meanwhile his audience was becoming more and more silent and paying attention to his every move. Ed eventually touched the stylus to the screen on the table and was surprised to see the black line appearing on the screen. He looked back at the tip of the pen-thing and sure enough, saw no ink. Ed shook his head to himself, but was secretly interested in how this technology worked. He was sure that more was possible with the tabletop screen things, considering he had seen people have access to information that was impossible to have just stored in their brain and they had been near those screens when they knew it. It was something you could read off of easily, store information, etc. It wasn't too hard to figure that out.

His audience watched as he deftly filled in the lines to a simple circle and when he was done, he placed his fingers on the edge of his circle with the cup in the middle. The familiar blue light bathed the room with its glow and Ed felt a comforting feeling. He always felt comfortable around alchemy. It was practically his lifeblood. Well, as far as the military was concerned, it _was_ his lifeblood.

The cup made one last effort to stay as a cup before the light dimmed to reveal a small statue of none other than Colonel Roy Mustang on his knees. The whole miniature scene made Ed feel just a little bit more cheerful and at home. He resisted the urge to pat the little Roy's head as if to tell _him_ that he was "just such a good little dog."

"THAT'S SOOOOO COOOL." Rooter gushed.

Everyone else seemed to have some eyebrows raised in amazement or murmurs of surprise. Ed was just a little bit pleased.

"Who is that?" Hecton asked Ed.

"Just some bastard I know." _Used to know._ The second thought echoed in his mind and Ed couldn't help but feel a little pain. He took one last look at the small statue that seemed so stupid all of a sudden before concentrating on reversing the reaction within the circle and changing it back to a cup.

…._used to know…._

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**I didn't really know where I was going to go with this chapter and right in the middle, some good ole' writer's block came knockin'. I wasn't really sure what was going to come of it, but in the end I sorta like my new "gang" of crazies to play with.**


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